Yesterday, Thursday, the Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council paid tribute to José Murphy and Meade, precisely on the day that the bicentenary of the designation and recognition of Santa Cruz de Tenerife as the capital of the Canary Islands was commemorated, a situation in which held for 105 years, before the division by provinces in 1927.
This tribute was attended by the mayor of Santa Cruz, José Manuel Bermúdez, representing the City Council, accompanied by the first deputy mayor, Guillermo Díaz Guerra, in an act that was also attended by the Councilor for Culture and Historical Heritage, Gladis de León , and the official chronicler of the city, José Manuel Ledesma.
After the words, the municipal councilor made a floral offering before the monument erected to José Murphy, accompanied by the president of the Tertulia Amigos del 25 de Julio, Luis García Rebollo.
Yesterday marked 19 years since, at the initiative of the Tertulia Amigos del 25 de Julio and by agreement of the plenary session of the City Council, it was agreed to pay homage every January 27 in the Plaza de San Francisco to José Murphy, where his sculpture was erected. Known as the “father of Santa Cruz de Tenerife”, when he did not even possess the title of city, since it was still a town, the deputy to the Cortes José Murphy y Meade (Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1774-Mexico 1841) carried out the necessary steps so that Santa Cruz de Tenerife obtained the capital status of the region, until in 1927 the provincial division took place.
200 years
On January 27, 1822, Fernando VII promulgated the royal decree establishing the division of Spanish territory into 52 provinces. It read: “Canarias (islands). Population: 215,108 souls.- Deputies: three.- Capital: Santa Cruz de Tenerife”. This is how the chronicler of Santa Cruz, José Manuel Ledesma, narrates how the deputy José Murphy managed to convince the Cortes that Santa Cruz be named the capital of the Canary Islands.
Santa Cruz would remain the sole capital of the Canary Islands until September 23, 1927, when the Government of the dictatorship of General Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja decreed the division of the Archipelago into two provinces: Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas.
